Interesting facts about Las Vegas

October 1, 2010 | In: Geography Facts



In 1931, Nevada legalized gambling. Soon after, Las Vegas became to that activity what Hollywood is to motion pictures — the capital. The state of Nevada has 151,362 slot machines, with almost 100,000 of them in Clark County, home to Las Vegas. In 1992, Nevada reported gambling gross income of over $5.7 billion, of which $4.2 billion came from Clark County.

With so much money coming in, casino and hotel owners have catered to tourists’ fantasies when designing their buildings. Circus Circus Hotel-Casino is a circus-tent-shaped complex with an entertainment park and a miniature Grand Canyon complete with river rapids. The Mirage Hotel features a dolphin pool, manmade volcano that spits fire and water, and a tiger habitat. The Excalibur Hotel seeks to represent a medieval castle with turrets, court jesters, and a showroom with jousting knights.

To crown all this non-textbook architecture, the city of Las Vegas lights up at night, thanks to many, many miles of neon tubing. It is probably fair to say that Las Vegas is the neon capital of the world…with Tokyo’s Ginza and New York’s Times Square muttering protests.

With all this gambling, liquor, and party behavior, it is interesting that Las Vegas was originally established as a Mormon settlement in 1855. With the Mormon ban on alcohol and other “vices,” it is remarkable that the city has made a 180-degree turn from its roots.


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